Easy To Swallow C*pl*ts

It is appropriate to the Valentine's season that my thoughts turn to a long, somewhat tumultuous, mutually unsatisfying relationship.
All Music Guide and me.

Over ten years ago, I started writing short music reviews for AMG, but I was most attracted to the opportunity to review books when they announced that as a major initiative. Most of the music I've reviewed for them has been old (from the 70's, primarily) and lesser-known-to-obscure.

Since then, they've abandoned the book review initiative and have alienated a number of their long-time freelancers. "Work for hire" writers should certainly be realistic in their expectations in these professional relationships. Still, the blatant commodification and neglect ... as I said, it's appropriate for them to come to mind during the Val's Day season!

No idea how many of these old reviews are still on the AMG site. I see my stuff as often on commercial sites and music blogs as on their site.

My hope here is to counteract some of the lousy karma of the whole thing by raising your interest in some of these albums, and make an effort to hear them.

Mystic Moods Orchestra: Mystic Moods Country [1972] AMG Rating = 6
The Mystic Moods Orchestra’s concept of overlaying easy listening music with sound effects may have been inspired by a DJ’s prank, but this studio group built an entire, improbable career on that formula. Their atmospheric, low-impact renditions of make-out standards such as “Love Is Blue,” on albums with titles like Erogenous, were state-of-the-art seduction music of their day.

In a departure from their “stormy night” albums, the (misleadingly titled) Mystic Moods Country surveys an odd assortment of folk and protest-light songs from the late 60’s and early 70’s. The closest they come to an actual country song, in fact, is Joe South’s “Don’t It Make You Want To Go Home.” Other than that, the Orchestra applies its soft-focus approach to songs by, or closely associated with Bob Dylan, the Byrds, Donovan, Harry Nilsson—even Bobby Darin’s denim-wearing days are represented with “Simple Song of Freedom.”

And while Country uses plenty of the Mystic Moods’ signature sound effects, the effects on this album are often startling rather than soothing. On the opening track, “Elusive Butterfly of Love,” the frenzied crickets’ chirping sounds more panicked than amorous. Later, the croaking of bullfrogs shatters any prospect of romance. Despite the usual relaxed tempos and cushy arrangements, the choice of sound effects throughout the album almost comes across as self-parodic.

Mystic Moods music was a unique sub-genre of bachelor pad music. With Mystic Moods Country, the songs have all the sharp edges removed, in typical Mystic Moods Orchestra fashion, only with obtrusive animal noises added. A unique entry in the Mystic Moods’ catalog, it has to be one of the most misguided “romance” albums ever.

Procol Harum: Broken Barricades [1971] AMG Rating = 8
Building on the more guitar-oriented sound of the previous year’s release, Home, Broken Barricades is Procol Harum’s most mainstream rock album. Guitarist Robin Trower plays an unprecedented role in the album’s sound, his last with Procol before leaving to form his own band. He contributes nearly as many songs as does pianist Gary Brooker, including “Song For A Dreamer,” which foreshadows the contemplative Hendrix-influenced style so prominent on his solo albums, and his guitar often dominates the material he didn’t write; his work on the opening song, Brooker and Reed’s formidable “Simple Sister,” features interplay between electric guitar and orchestra as powerful as any in rock and roll.

Apart from that, most of the album finds the band augmented only by tasteful synthesizer work (as on the title track) or a blowzy horn section (“Playmate Of The Mouth”), if at all. Drummer B.J. Wilson is given plenty of room in the mix to showcase his solid, inventive drumming, contributing greatly to the album’s punchy sound. It was their best-sounding studio album to date, and showed each member of the band to their best advantage.

With its single-length songs and strong guitar presence, Broken Barricades could have been the blueprint for a new sound for the band. With Trower’s departure for a successful solo career, however, Procol Harum wound up falling back on the more ornate sound of their earlier albums. This would be Trower’s last recording with the band for another 20 years, until the reunion album, Prodigal Stranger (1991).

Flash Cadillac & The Continental Kids: Sons Of The Beaches [1975] AMG Rating = 8
For their third album, Flash Cadillac masterfully recreates the breezy California pop of the mid-60’s. Beach Boys comparisons are inevitable, especially given that they open the album with an expert cover of “Summer Means Fun,” originally recorded by Bruce Johnston, a Beach Boy himself, and sometimes Beach Boy producer, Terry Melcher. They also manage two satisfying Beach Boys homages with the original (Kris Moe) compositions that follow it, “Time Will Tell” and “It’s A Summer Night.” “It’s A Summer Night” may be the pinnacle of Flash Cadillac’s recording career, with outstanding vocal and instrumental work by the group, set against flawless 60’s production values.

Two tracks by Hondell Richard Burns--the oldie “Come On Let’s Go” and a new song, “Good Times, Rock & Roll”--fit into the program nicely. Another Moe original, “I Wish You’d Dance,” brings some sparkle to the album’s second side, but “It’s Hard (To Break The Ice)” is bland, and the closing “Rock and Roll Menace” is pointless and dull. With a few more top-quality tunes, this album could’ve been a 10. As it is, Sons Of The Beaches is a refreshing, well-executed evocation of a golden age of pop songwriting and record making.

(After more than two decades out of print, the Varese Sarabande label issued Sons... on CD, for the first time, in 2000. The CD adds two versions of the single, "Did You Boogie (With Your Baby)," the first featuring legendary d.j., Wolfman Jack; their sparkling cover of Roy Wood's "See My Baby Jive"; and that single's flipside, "Brown Water." Along with the informative liner notes, the crisp, clean remastering makes the CD a must for fans of well-executed, 60's style pop.)

[Stupid me. A few months ago, I started to get a huge spike in comments on my blog posts--anything over zero being huge--and thought maybe I was being read and should start posting to this blog more often. Turns out they were ALL spam, ads, and links to malware sites, attracted by my post titles that included words like "c*plets" . . . as I said, stupid me.]